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Anomaly: Warzone Earth preview (iPad)

Anomaly: Warzone Earth launched back in April for the PC (feel free to give the demo a download, if you're so inclined). But it's coming to iPad in four to six weeks, and at last week's EA Summer Showcase day I got a chance to see how the transition was going.

It's no surprise that tower defense games really lend themselves to being played on a touch-screen interface. Poking and prodding to move troops around and interact with the game world make those games a cinch to play. As I learned from my time with Anomaly: Warzone Earth, the same is true for tower offense games as well.

Gallery: Anomaly: Warzone Earth (PC/iPhone/iPad) | 9 Photos

Yes, though a quick glimpse would make Anomaly appear like a common tower defense game, the opposite is true. Each round, you construct a convoy and designate a path for it to take around each level. Each unit is equipped with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. For example, APCS can fire more often with their machine guns, but do far less damage than the slow-firing Crawler's rocket launchers. It's all about give and take.

The iPad really felt like the native platform for this sort of action. The graphics were on par with the PC game and even with so much happening, the frame rate never took a dip. Granted, I was playing on an iPad 2, so there's every chance the original iPad may not run it so well.

The interface hasn't changed much in transition to iPad, but it really didn't need to be changed. Using your finger is just about the same as a mouse, and the big icons are a nice fit. And moving in and out of the tactical view (where you set your convoy path) is as easy as you'd hope.

Anomaly: Warzone Earth wasn't just a good fit for the touch screen, it felt as though it was always meant to be there. If you're an iPad owner who missed this the first time around, you've got no excuse for letting it pass you by a second time.